And the Ants lay where they Fell
by negative indicative
Summary: Events surrounding the first League Against Voldemort, focusing on MWPP Snape, Malfoy and how their lives were changed...
1. Default Chapter

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Disclaimer: Characters and settings etc all belong elsewhere…

AN: I started this story a few months ago but have since revised the opening chapters and am reposting it here. This story is set after the Goblet of Fire, however it is mostly about the events and circumstances that surrounded the first league against Voldemort, and how the lives of the main characters were affected. Needless to say there will be spoilers for all books.

And the Ants lay where they Fell

Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry had stood for hundreds of years; it had survived the reigns of monarchs, stayed hidden - a safe haven - during various witch hunts, and remained standing throughout civil and world wars. 

The school that Albus Dumbledore knew and loved resembled that of the four founders who had built it, however, it had over the decades undergone numerous changes. Wings had been added, passages had been closed, corridors created. Nobody had ever discovered all it's hidden recesses, occasionally like the chamber of secrets they floated up to the surface, only to be buried again under the weight of time, becoming little more than vague myths. 

Pupils and teachers came and went, some discovered more of the castle than others but in the end they always departed and only the dust was left to fall on the records of their discoveries and achievements.

In an office in a tower above a twisting staircase the headmaster sat. Outside dusk was beginning to fall, but he lit no candles, he was an old man and he remained sitting quite still. His eyes were on a portrait of four people. Four figures, one in blue, one in yellow, one in green and one in scarlet. Two witches, two wizards. Their eyes shone out of the picture with a strange intensity as if they were looking straight at the viewer. Behind them the walls of a castle stretched away, above them the hot summer sun shone down. . 

The painting was as familiar to Dumbledore as every other belonging that cluttered the room, however it always occupied his attention more than the other objects. For one thing it was unusual - the figures never moved - it was perhaps the only non magical painting in the castle, at least as far as he knew, and yet sometimes the picture seemed more real than any of the others. The way the four stood on the canvas made them almost appear alive, maybe it was the fading light, but sometimes their robes seemed to flutter as if in a breeze. The painter had been a muggle, perhaps a famous one. There was no signature, and what he had made of the four sorcerers nobody would ever know. 

Every pupil who went to the school was affected by those four figures, for they would be sorted into a house that shared the personality traits of its founder. Gryffindor the brave, Hufflepuff the hardworking, Ravenclaw the wise or Slytherin the ambitious.

It was something that had troubled Dumbledore for a long time now. At first the system had seemed fine, but now the more he looked at it the easier it was to see the inherent weakness of separating the four attributes from each other. The characteristics became too pronounced, instead of encouraging pupils to learn from each other, they were divided, it was almost as if they became one dimensional. The brave became stubborn almost overbearing, the hardworking became unsociable and overly focused, the wise became aloof, and the ambitious ruthless.

Pupils no longer worked together, the house rivalries seemed to have become deeper and more vicious over the years. He could no longer rely on those he most needed to overcome their differences. The dark shadow that had passed across their world fifteen years ago had only just been averted, now there was no one who could predict what would happen with Voldemort back. It was impossible to base a struggle on the luck of a mere child, however fortunate that child might have been in the past. Things were changing now, nothing was going to be the same.

If Voldemort were to be defeated a second time it would require everyone he could muster fighting, and fighting together - united. 

However the past could not be undone, there had been needless deaths, deaths of those who had deserved to live and had done no wrong, and Dumbledore knew, as only an old, old man could know, that these deaths would continue unless something could be done to end the divisions and the rivalries which had been festering over hundreds of years. There were so many problems, so many things he didn't want to think about, and the longer he lived the more there were. Sometimes he felt as though he was flying towards the sun and there was nowhere else to go, on some days he almost believed the cause was hopeless. He knew where he would have to start, and yet it was the place he wanted to go back to least of all. 

Sighing he stood slowly, he walked over to a tall brown oak cupboard and pulled an object that looked like a small stone basin from the interior. The liquid inside began to swirl even before he had set it on his desk, and as he stared into its depths faces emerged, scenes lingered for a moment before being submerged and replaced by others.

The first image that rose to the surface was not one he expected, that of a blond haired young man, in the image he wasn't much more than twenty years old, but he looked older than his years more poised, and somehow gentler than Dumbledore had allowed himself to remember. The young man stood with his hands in his pockets and beside him a second far more shadowy figure arose. The old wizard sighed, a girl, it always came down to a girl, he knew that she was beautiful, but he wasn't able to make out her features and before he knew it the two figures were slipping away. 

They were replaced by a face with a bold smile and black hair, the face winked at him, but just as suddenly it was transformed and a look of agony replaced the smile, the face grew older and ragged, it seemed as though it had turned into someone else altogether before it was sucked from the surface. 

Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment, memories like this left him tired, when he opened them again he was staring into a pair of deep brown eyes, for a moment they filled the surface completely but then the figure was pulled back, his face became visible then his torso, and then he could see the wreck of a house that the man was standing in front of. He wore a look of such pure hopeless regret it made the old wizards eyes hurt to look at him. 

He knew the two figures who lay beyond those eyes, he could have seen them in a hundred memories, wandering round Hogwarts, watching a quidditch match hand in hand, getting married, dead. The old man did not wish to see them and he forced his mind to draw up something else.

The last figure which came into view seemed distant almost hazy, he was walking up the long path towards the school. He was walking very slowly although it was raining. It was only as he came closer that it was possible to tell that his clothes were ripped and then, halfway up, the figure turned away, he stood still his gaze on the grey sky.

Dumbledore snapped his head up from the liquid. 

Shutting his eyes now images came flooding back - long hot summers when the sunlight spread through the high windows of the classroom where they held their meetings. The way the rain lashed against the windows on winter nights, the smell of damp robes drying before a fire. The creaking of wooden chairs, so many empty chairs, and those expectant faces turned towards him. The slightly helpless feeling you learnt to hide. Meetings, celebrations, funerals, so many funerals… 

"Come on," he sighed, "Your getting old, you can't always live in the past, the past is gone, isn't that right?" He looked over at a dowdy looking bird that stood perched silently in the corner of the room as if for affirmation. There was a long silence. "But everything always comes back to the past." His voice sounded very old and tired. 

In the liquid of the pensive the problem was highlighted; two sides of the same coin in constant conflict; ruthless and brilliant: Gryffindor and Slytherin. They had turned in two different directions and in the years that had passed since Voldemorts downfall nobody had thought to try and draw them together. It had been so much easier to forget the problem, to let life carry on as before, thinly veiled antagonism and mistrust. He'd been happy to forget, he didn't want to have to remember his failures, the ones he'd been unable to save. All those problems had simply festered and simmered, especially in the ones he needed the most. 

Now he could see the folly of this, but it was too late, now there was no time to try and undo the damage, they were as divided as they had ever been. He had seen the hate even as they shook hands. The same hate had passed to the next generation, he had to wonder if it was his fault, if he could have changed it then, if he could alter it now?

All of them had been tied together in such an intricate web - it had been impossible to untangle. The four friends of Gryffindor, Lily, who had married James, Jade who had married Peter, and now only two were still with him. Then there were the little knot of Slytherin's, ambitious and intelligent, whose blood ran so thickly together. Two sides diametrically opposed and yet their paths had always been sliding across each other.

Even at the time not every action had been clear, now years had passed and it was as though they had been exiled from what went before, later events clouded the picture. There were many questions that needed to be answered. So many things he hadn't realized. All those secrets and deceptions. How could he hope to separate the threads, did he even want to look at those ruined lives? Sometimes he didn't even feel that the living were better off than the dead.

Unless they overcame the past he knew they would sink, Fudge was not the man for a crisis, he would need everyone and even then he couldn't be sure of victory; he was older now, he was tired; he had seen too much. 

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	2. Heads

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Disclaimer: Characters and settings taken from… Harry Potter…

A.N: Set just before the first League meeting

Never such innocence,

Never before or since,

As changed itself to past

Without a word - the men

Leaving the gardens tidy,

The thousands of marriages

lasting a little while longer

Never such innocence again. 

From MCMXIV by Philip Larkin

Heads

The sun was blazing outside, but the pub remained gloomy. A little blue light streamed in through the ancient thick blue window-panes lighting up small patches on the table and glinting dully off the beer glasses. As it was still early there were very few people in there; an old wizard sat propped up on a bar stool, at the other end a witch sat with a pumpkin juice talking to the young lady behind the counter and in the furthest corner facing the door three young men sat talking quietly each with a pint of butter beer.

"Let me see the note Remus." 

"I already told you what it says. He'll be here soon." Remus swallowed an inch of beer and looked up at his two friends. "I'm kind of nervous." He gave a small laugh, and James returned a quick grin.

"Yeah it'll be weird to see old Wormtail again." Sirius drummed his fingers on the table. 

"Damn rat's always late. He was late to our bloody graduation."

"That," said Remus shooting him a long look, "Was because he was trying to untangle Snape's little leaving present, which incidentally was meant for you." At this the three of them laughed.

"Yeah he was a bit annoyed about that. Who'd of thought Snape could have cursed a gown with such devastating results?" 

"Since you took Peter's you must have had some idea."

"Remus… you make it sound like I did it on purpose." They fell silent again watching the door. 

"I suppose," said James after a long pause, "He's probably changed…" But before he could finish what he was about to say, the heavy wooden door swung open and a dark figure stood there surrounded by yellow sunlight. 

After a moment he let the door swing shout behind him, and then Peter Pettigrew walked straight over to the table where his three friends sat, a small happy smile on his face. For a moment all three of them seemed to be in shock, Remus recovered first, he stood up and held out his hand and Peters brown eyes glinted. "Remus." 

"Peter." And then James stepped forwards.

"Hullo Peter, I think you grew." And he laughed, and Peter smiled,

"Perhaps, or maybe you just shrunk." Sirius was last, he was staring at Peter as he held out his hand.

"Well, well, so little Wormtail's back to see us at last. Hope you've got lots of wild tales about your exploits in Cairo to regale us with Peter."

"I'm sure I could mange some." He looked down at their glasses. "I see you started without me. Bloody typical…"

"We knew you'd be late." Remus laughed, "Come on I'll buy you a drink." But Peter put his hand on his arm.

"Let me buy them today, I missed you all you know, I really did, lets sit outside, there's a lot to catch up on."

*

"So when do we get to see this beautiful wife of yours?" Sirius was sitting carefully balanced on a chair back, his feet on the seat. Peter looked up at him smiling slightly. He could tell that James and Remus were listening even though they were both still engaged in a chess match that had lasted over an hour.

"Next week. We'll both be at the meeting." Peter took a sip of his third butter beer and sighed. "You never change Sirius, I've been away for two years, I come back and all you're interested in is seeing my wife." James laughed. 

"Well you have to admit Peter it is a bit mysterious, I mean, you go off to work in Cairo for some hot-shot transfiguration firm, and the next thing we hear is that you're married, and we have to get that out of the paper, you didn't even tell us… and then there were the picture, Sirius couldn't shut his gob - quite a catch. You can't blame us for being curious."

Peter grinned, "I don't mind curiosity its lechery that bothers me."

Sirius picked up his beer, "Hmmm, lets have a toast then. To the reuniting of the mauraders, it's been a long time… well two years. It's good to see you back Pete." The four of them raised their glasses and drank.

Although it was only the beginning of the day the July air was hot, and a light breeze rippled through the trees. Peter closed his eyes while the sun grazed his face and he had to admit he was glad to be back. There was something about the village of Hogsmede that instantly drew him to his happiest memories, sitting on the table surrounded by his three oldest friends he felt a million miles away from the heat and the bustle of the city where he had been working. Nothing had changed, the pub was just the same, Rosmerta was as beautiful as he remembered, and they were pleased to see him, he was sure of that.

"I win." Remus' voice broke into his thoughts. James winced as his knight was slaughtered and his king was defeated. 

"Congratulations Remus. However I will have my revenge."

"I'll be waiting for you." They both stood up and sauntered over to Peter and Sirius.

"So James when are you and Lily tying the knot?" Peter smiled at the young man with the untidy hair. He hadn't been surprised to hear that his friend was engaged, James and Lily had been dating since the sixth year at Hogwarts, it was as though they were made for each other.

"Not until next summer, we have to save up for a house. Well I know I've got money, but Lily hasn't and she wants to do it properly too, I never knew a wedding would take so much effort, especially with her family being muggles, it's a nightmare." He took a long gulp of beer. "But it'll be worth it in the end. I suppose."

"I'm going to be best man." Sirius looked at Peter, "There's going to be lots of mayhem, and tricks and spectacular…" 

"There won't be any bloody mayhem." James cut in, "Anyway I'm going to set you up with Lily's sister, Lily said Petunia loves a man in robes." He hid a grin while he took a sip of beer. 

"Sounds like quite a day." Peter sighed.

James looked at him. "I daresay I'll need some advice about married life." It was strange seeing Peter again, he didn't look the same, his features were older, it wasn't a change James had noticed with Remus or Sirius, but Peter had been away, and now he was different. His face had thinned out, he used to look clumsy but now he seemed deft and much more self assured. James shook his head slightly, it was almost like looking at another person, was this the same boy he was at school with? Maybe it was the beer, he seemed to be getting nostalgic.

Peter glanced round at their empty glasses. "I'll get another round." And he disappeared out of the garden.

"He's changed." James spoke low as soon as Peter was out of earshot.

"Don't be daft." Remus muttered, "He's the same, he's just a bit taller, and thinner, but other than that…"

"No he's definitely changed, he used to be so… well you know, like he was one step behind us all the time."

"James, he was never like that, Peter wasn't stupid, I know you and Sirius liked to think he was slow, because it made you feel smart, and he didn't mind that, but he wasn't one step behind." Remus kept his tone low, but there was a certain edge to his voice.

"We never said that." Sirius was indignant, "He was slow. You know he couldn't have done animagi without us."

"Sirius." Remus sounded a little tired. "He just let you think that. Don't you know he bloody worshipped you at school. I've no idea why, he'd do anything to make you happy, including letting you think you were doing him a favour. Don't forget if it wasn't for him we'd never have discovered how to animate the marauders' map."

"That was a fluke, he was lucky." Sirius was grinning at Remus as though he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"If that's what you want to think…" But he was cut off by a nudge from James as Peter reappeared with four more glasses of beer. 

"So Peter, you came back just in time to join the League." James' words sounded a little forced, but Peter smiled easily, 

"I guess, actually I couldn't stand the climate out there, but, well it'll be nice to see everyone again. I daresay there will be a few choice missions for us as well." Sirius smacked his beer down. 

"We'll make Voldemort rue the day, thinks he can get away with this, well he hasn't faced the might of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." Peter laughed.

"It might take more than us." James sighed.

"Doubt it, he was a Slytherin."

"Sirius it is a serious matter you know. People are getting killed."

"I know, that's why we've got to stop the bastard."

"It's not that easy, he has his supporters too, they're more organised than we are at the moment, everything points to a systematic political agenda." An uncharacteristic frown crossed James' face.

"James he's a lunatic. Have you heard some of his ideas?"

"I've heard them." Peter's voice was soft. "You'd be surprised, he has his supporters everywhere, even in Cairo."

"You see." James muttered.

"I know he has supporters, I'm not stupid James, I just don't think it will take very long to bring him down. We have aurors, I mean dammit you're one, and we have Dumbledore. He hasn't faced us yet, not properly and once he does that'll be it. I don't see why you're so worried, we're on the right side."

"Nobody wants it to last long Sirius, he's shown his colours now, attacking those half bloods was just plain wrong, I just don't think it's going to be as easy as you think. I've seen what they've done, and we don't really know why, nobody's safe."

The four of them fell silent, far off in the distance a tractor hummed in a field, it's driver completely unaware that the village where they say even existed. The village was quiet, most of it's inhabitants were working or making the most of the lull of the school holidays to get away. The outside world seemed so far away they couldn't even be sure that it was real. The taste of the beer was crisp and mellow and it seemed as though the day would stretch ahead forever.

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Next chapter Snape and Malfoy, any constructive criticism on this one welcome…


	3. Tails

_Disclaimer: Characters all belong to me…ummm put that in the negative hmmm?_

_A.N.:  Suspend disbelief it's Snape and Malfoy, somewhere, somewhere in a field in Hampshire, alright…_

Tails 

The mop in his hands slapped wetly against the floor. He twisted it quickly and slid it sawing backwards and forwards across the tiles, pushing it roughly under the tables. As it began to dry he plonked it back in the bucket, wringing it out easily against the side as he began the sequence over again. 

The café was dark, it was almost twelve and he had turned out all the lights apart from the one at the back. He had almost finished the floor when he heard a tapping on the window, he didn't turn around; he simply pointed past his shoulder at the closed sign. The knocking continued. Sighing he dropped the broom and walked over to the glass. It was only when he could make out the pale hair and features of the man behind the window that he stopped, and suddenly, unexpectedly his face broke into a quick small smile. He pulled back the bolt and opened the door.

Lucius Malfoy, robes swirling walked in and sat down on one of the slightly stained tables. To anyone passing he would have looked completely incongruous in his fine clothes in the grubby café, but nobody passed.  Malfoy looked the man who had let him in up and down for a long moment before speaking. 

"Hello Severus." His voice was soft.

"Lucius."  Severus Snape stood before him, hands in the pockets of his black jeans. He looked slightly thinner than Lucius had remembered, and for a moment they both seemed uncomfortable until Lucius slowly stood up, extended his hand and felt Snape's cool grip in return.

 A quick smile flashed across Malfoy's features.  "Severus Snape, you know I almost missed you."

"If I didn't know better Malfoy I'd say old age has made you soft."

"If I didn't know better so would I."  He closed his eyes for a few seconds and Snape could tell that he had been strained, that the four years they had spent apart hadn't changed his friend, and he felt suddenly happier than he had in a long while.

"Well, I have to say when I came back to England I didn't think I would find you in a place like this." Malfoy was looking around the dingy café; he couldn't keep a wave of distaste, or possibly sadness, from his face. "Oh Snape, what on earth are you doing?"

Snape looked at him for a moment, he weighed up a flippant and a serious answer in his mind, but he was unable to decide which he should use, so he sat down carefully on one of the cracked plastic chairs by the table and shrugged.

"Does it matter?" Lucius didn't look at him as he spoke - his eyes were on the tiles and the pools of water - which were drying slowly.

"Yeah, it matters." He flicked his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at Snape's face. "Where's yours?"

Snape's eyes were on the tip of the wand but his voice was expressionless. "It's at home."

He watched as Malfoy placed his wand on the table, his pale face was hard to read but Snape could tell that he was unable to comprehend the scene before his eyes. He could emphasise with that feeling, he could remember when he had first seen the place, but that was two years ago and now it had almost become part of him, now the years at Hogwarts seemed further away and less real to him than the chipped and cracking tables, the coffee stains and the smell of soap and water. 

"Listen Severus. I know I haven't been around for the past few years, but honestly when you wrote and told me you were living like a, well like a muggle, I uh, I didn't think it was quite like this. I mean damn it Severus, you were the best in your year, you could have gotten a great job, every potion brewer in the country would have wanted to hire you, I thought at least you'd be working for a ummm," He paused, "You know one of those muggle things, I don't know, a company. Chemicals or whatever it is they do, but here? This place is terrible Severus, what the hell do you want to work here for?  I don't understand." He wiped his hand across his face, his features were slightly puzzled, almost concerned.

"Well this was my choice Lucius. You made your choice. I made mine." 

"There were a hundred other choices that would have been better than this."

"If you recall Lucius, we didn't exactly have the same options, you and I."  Snape seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"I would have given you the money."

"It's not about money Lucius, if I'd wanted what you had I'd have worked for it, I didn't want it though, bloody magic, I said goodbye to all that."

"You're a wizard, you can't just leave it all behind."

"Why not?  That's what I want."

"Why would you want to?"

"Why?" Snape looked at him his eyes darkened, Lucius was surprised to remember exactly how cool and black they were, without thinking he reached out and touched Snape's shoulder for a moment. He drew back his hand as suddenly as he had put it out, and Snape's eyes flicked away, but his voice when he spoke again was slightly more open. "I just was tired, the way things were. I mean school and everything, we always hated it, but it was worse at the end. After, well I wanted to get as far away as I could, and this, this is pretty far. I know that not one of them would ever walk in here, not unless they came looking for me, and nobody has. Until now."

They were both silent for a moment. Snape drummed his fingers on the tabletop; it had been easy enough to condition himself against thinking of the school and the past but now, faced with Malfoy it all came flooding back. He picked up Malfoy's wand and spun it round his fingers.

"It wasn't the same when you left.  Don't get me wrong, the others were okay, Lestrange, de Mandeville, Rosier, nice but not the same." 

"So what was it?"

"Shit, it was everything... I don't know why. All I know is I don't ever want to see them again."

"Who?"

"Any of them." He spat the words out. "The teachers, the students, even the Slytherins, I don't give a damn what happens to them, I don't care if they all rot."

Lucius looked at him, he opened and shut his mouth. "I don't remember it being that bad. What about house loyalty?"

"Oh the house was alright, just ours though, not the others. Well you weren't there for the last two years. You were off studying whatever the hell it was in Prague. You'd graduated. Of course it was alright for you." His voice was still quiet but it had taken on a bitter angry edge. "It wasn't that much fun though."

Snape stood up; he walked over to the mop and picked it up. He emptied the bucket in a sink behind the counter, and he got a cloth and began wiping down the counter; only the violent motions of his arms expressed his disquiet.

"You never told me what happened, I mean I know you had some trouble with Potter and his gang... but it's more than that."

"Yeah, well I always hated them. Potter and Black, Pettigrew and Lupin." He spat out the last name and Lucius looked surprised. 

"Lupin? I thought he was the inoffensive one."

"Inoffensive?" Snape gave a hollow laugh, "He almost killed me. He's a..." but he stopped suddenly, he bent down to empty the bin behind the counter and Lucius couldn't see his face.

"What do you mean he almost killed you? What is he?"

"Nothing, it was Black really, but he was in on it, they all were, anyway, I'm still alive. They barely even got punished." He wrung the cloth out and came back round to face Lucius. "Ironic really.  I almost die and Potter was still made head boy, Lupin was still a prefect.  I wasn't anything. You know why?  Because I'm a bloody Slytherin, simple isn't it?  When they get in fights it's because they're honourable courageous little twats, but I'm a sly duplicitous bastard.  I came top of the school and all they cared about was the fucking quidditch team." Snape's face did not disclose any emotion. "I worked Lucius, I mean I wanted to be the best, it wasn't always easy but nobody ever noticed, all they saw was Potter catching the snitch."

"You should have written to me."

"Why? I didn't have anything to tell you, it wasn't like I ever achieved anything, they were so damn popular and I wasn't anything."

"You were still top though, that counts for something."

"Yeah? Well it wasn't enough for me." He wiped his hair from his eyes, Lucius was watching him intently, he seemed to be calculating something. 

"I'm sorry Severus.  I should have come back.  I would have if I'd known.  I wish you'd told me."

"There would have been no point, you couldn't have done anything.  You know how it is."

"I would have come back though.  You're my best friend.  I never cared about any of the others, not really.  You were different.  I will make it up to you Severus, I have big plans, you'll see.  I promise I'll make up for it."  Snape was staring at him now.

"It doesn't mater Lucius, it's all in the past."

"I hate that school too, I know you hated Potter, there were people I hated as well, you can't really avoid that in school.  But I hate the teachers the most.  I can't understand why they'd let someone like you suffer. I mean just because of Slytherin?  We weren't bad - not that bad, I can't believe they turned you into this." His voice was so sad that Snape looked at him surprised. "You know there are other things in the world Snape. I don't want you to get stuck here. You're too intelligent for that.  I wanted to see you; it's been so damn long.  I have stuff to tell you. Lots of stuff."

"Really? Well why don't you walk back with me, and you can tell me all this stuff."

The night was dark. Snape had locked the door and pocketed the key while Lucius looked on curiously. It was cool outside, the night smelt musty and the streets were quiet. Bits of litter got caught up in the breeze and drifted across their path.

"If I didn't know, I'd think you were a muggle for sure." It was impossible to tell whether Lucius admired this or was distressed by it. Snape nodded

"That's the idea."

He walked fast and Lucius had to struggle to keep up, his hands were shoved in his pockets, and it was hard for Lucius not to stare at him, not to try and remember Snape the way he had been at school.

They had reached a large apartment block, Lucius had no idea where it was, he was unfamiliar with this part of London, or indeed with any part that did not revolve around Diagon alley. He was however aware that it wasn't somewhere where he would like to live. The outside walls were grimy, a couple of the downstairs windows had cardboard over them where the glass had been smashed, and a dull yellow glow came from the glass panel in the side door which Snape approached and opened. He turned round to look at Lucius, a slight sneer played around his features. "Not up to sir's usual standards?" Lucius looked at him, gave a short laugh and followed him down the corridor. They climbed three flights of stairs and walked down another corridor before Snape stopped outside a door. He muttered something quietly and the door swung open revealing a narrow long room. A faint orange glow permeated from the streetlight outside, it was barely visible in the hazy light. 

"Sit down." Snape pointed at the bed. He snapped a switch on the wall and the room was suddenly lit up, it seemed very bare, almost barren to Lucius, the bed was stretched beneath the window, there was a small set of shelves beside the bed, they were stacked with paperback novels and bottles, at the other end of the room was a cupboard, next to the cupboard was a chipped white sink. There were no chairs, not even a table.  Snape seemed to be enjoying Lucius' reaction.

"Drink?" Lucius took the offered bottle and unscrewed the lid, he swallowed, the liquid caught in his throat and he coughed. Snape looked at him and shook his head - he tipped the bottle back and gulped. Lucius wiped his eyes. 

"So what did you have to tell me?"

"I want you to get out of this place. I can get you a job; I can get you a good job with my father. This isn't any kind of life Snape, this isn't even living."

"Muggles manage."

"That isn't the point, you could do better."

"Well I don't think your father would want to give me a job, wasn't that why he packed you off to university?  To get you as far away as possible, so you wouldn't see me?  I seem to recall he had some theory about history repeating itself or something."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't care what my father says now.  I should have come back years ago.  He'll give you a job all right.  There are things I've learnt about my father while I've been away."  Snape gave him a questioning look but said nothing for a long moment. 

"I don't think you understand Lucius. I don't want to go back, I like it here, and I don't suppose I'll ever really belong anywhere else. I am this way, I was born like this." 

"Maybe it doesn't matter where you were born, it's what you make of yourself that counts.  If you let people like Potter decide your destiny then they've won."  He suddenly grabbed the bottle from Snape's hand and took a long draught. "You were my best friend, I won't let you give up like this.  You can still be better than them."

"You know Lucius, you know who I am. All that effort, that was just stupid, that was for nothing.  I didn't know anything. You've been away too long, sure I liked to think that things would change, but they don't."

"There are other things out there."  Lucius looked at him, his voice was very low, almost dangerous sounding and he and Snape looked at each other, neither moving.

"Listen Severus, while I was in Prague I joined this club, well it was more like a secret society, the leader was a professor at the university, and the club was dedicated to the dark arts. Not defence, practise. This guy knows everything - he's the genuine article. I know one when I see one.  I learnt a lot. More than we ever did at Hogwarts, that was like kids playing around, anyway this professor, he's called Duligal, well he asked me to join," Lucius suddenly lowered his voice even further, "he asked me to join the death eaters."

Snape was watching him carefully. "What did you say?"

"I said I'd think about it, he asked me if I knew anyone else who might be interested. I thought of you."

Snape shut his eyes. It had been impossible even for him to ignore the rise of the death eaters, even while he'd been at Hogwarts there had been whispers and rumours, nothing concrete had really started happening until recently though, there had been a few attacks when the ministry of magic refused to grant Voldemort certain concessions.  'Action, not words' was the header in the back lane rag that covered this kind of thing.  Some of the articles were very persuasive.  He looked at Lucius,

"Do you want to join then?"  Lucius exhaled slowly.

"Well I know I'm bloody sick of things the way they are.  I'm tired of going nowhere, living like this – always the same.  At least Voldemort has some ideas - at least he has a bloody direction.  The ministry they sit around and they talk and they bloody talk but they never achieve anything."

"He's not exactly rational though is he, our Mr Voldemort?"

"Who is?  You think Dumbledore's rational with his bloody jellybeans and barley sugars?  I'll tell you what's bloody irrational, you wasting your whole bloody life away because of other people.  You might not be able to change the past, but at least we could do something about the future.  I wasn't sure about it until I saw you, but now I am."

"I've inspired you to terrorism."  Snape gave a quick smile.

"Yeah well if it wasn't for the hierarchy in the damn ministry maybe things would be different, maybe I don't understand all the issues at stake, but one thing I know is they've treated Slytherin as second class for years, at least now we have a chance."

 "Yes, but his policies are all over the place, he says pure blood families should have more rights with one breath then claims that werewolves are equal citizens."

"Isn't that as ridiculous as the ministry making all these laws to protect half bloods and then saying that werewolves should be shot?"  Lucius gave him a triumphant look.  "Besides he's taking on the ministry of course you want to get people on your side, everyone says a lot of things, doesn't mean they actually believe them all."

"Perhaps."  Snape took another sip of the whisky and looked down at his hands.  "Of course then you don't know which ones he does mean do you Malfoy?"

"Maybe, but what else are we going to do?  We'll be bloody old and going nowhere like them soon enough.  There's plenty of time for a nice safe ministry career in a few years time, but you sure as hell won't change anything there."

"Well, well, I don't know what your father would say about all this, appears his little plan for keeping you safe has backfired somewhat."

"Ha, I know, he'd be bloody livid.  Why would I listen to him though, he never achieved anything, all he does is moan about the bloody past."

"Yeah, that's all they ever do.  'Not a witch or a wizard who ever went bad that wasn't in Slytherin…'" They both smiled.

"So shall we join?"

"Perhaps Mr Malfoy your eloquent arguments have persuaded me.  I would after all hate to say that I lost out to a bunch of Gryffindors."

"Yeah, well you better be sure.  I don't want you getting all bitter and blaming me if this Voldemort guy turns out to be a nut."

"Oh I don't think he's a nut, I think he knows exactly what he wants, he's just not showing his hand.  I've never known what I wanted, so why not this?"

"Well my friend, I'll set the wheels in motion.  Hey Snape?"

"What?"

"I'm glad I came back, it's good to see you."  He smiled like a small child, and Snape shook his head slightly.

"Whatever."


End file.
